Punjab bypolls: Clash breaks out between Congress, AAP workers at Dera Pathana village

GURDASPUR (Punjab): A clash broke out between Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers at a polling booth in Punjab’s Dera Pathana on Wednesday during the by-elections. Voting is under way in Punjab’s Dera Baba Nanak assembly seat.

Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa appealed to the voters to cast their vote peacefully.”My appeal to the voters is to come out and cast their votes peacefully. In Dera Baba Nanak, some goons wanted to capture the booth and create issues, and one of them was arrested. It is a very unfortunate incident. One should conduct the elections in a better manner and stay united and vote for the Congress party and put an end to this hooliganism”, he said.

#WATCH | Gurdaspur, Punjab: Clash broke out between Congress and AAP workers at the polling booth of village Dera Pathana. Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa also present at the spot.

Voting was going on in Punjab’s Dera Baba Nanak by-elections. pic.twitter.com/u6bLZhKwM0

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Meanwhile, voting commenced on Wednesday for bypolls in 15 assembly seats across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, and Uttarakhand, with results scheduled to be announced on November 23.

Punjab is seeing bypolls in Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC), and Barnala. These bypolls were necessitated after the MLAs from these constituencies were elected to the Lok Sabha. Of the four seats, three were previously held by the Congress, while the Barnala seat belonged to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Meanwhile, clashes broke out between two parties during the Meerapur Assembly bypolls in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district, police said on Wednesday. Muzaffarnagar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Abhishek Singh, said that peace has been restored and voting is proceeding in a free and fair manner.

“During the Meerapur assembly by-election, there was a clash between two parties near village Kakaroli of police station area Kakaroli. Police reached the spot immediately and removed everyone using force. Peace is maintained at the spot and voting is going on in a free and fair manner”, the SSP said.

Samajwadi Party, on its official social media handle X, alleged that the police are “misbehaving” with voters in the Meerapur constituency. “They are being stopped from casting their votes, voting is getting affected. Police is misbehaving with voters and using lathis on women at booth number 318 of Mirapur assembly constituency in Muzaffarnagar. Election Commission should take cognizance and ensure fair voting”, the SP said on X. (ANI)